This invention relates to legs for furniture, and in particular to a system for attaching a furniture leg to an item of furniture which results in a secure attachment without disruption of any fabric covering applied to the furniture. While the invention is described in relation to a chair leg, it can relate to any furniture leg applied to any item of furniture or the like.
Attachment of legs to items of furniture, and particularly upholstered furniture, presents unique problems. Typically an upholstered chair or the like is upholstered first, and legs then applied thereafter. If the legs are applied by screwing the legs onto the bottom corners of the chair, disruption of the fabric of the bottom corners can occur as the chair leg engages the fabric that has been previously applied to the chair. Thus, often screw-on legs are not thoroughly tightened to avoid fabric disruption, but that can result in an unstable chair.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,566, which was assigned to the assignee of the present invention, is directed to a furniture leg attachment means which avoids the fabric disruption of a screw-on leg. Instead, the furniture leg is provided with a top flange, which engages a similarly-shaped attaching plate which is secured to a chair, table or other item of furniture. While a significant improvement over screw-on legs, this invention requires close tolerances between the flange at the top of the furniture leg and the attachment plate. In addition, because the flange is snugly engaged in the attachment plate, a possible detriment is the fact that the leg cannot be fully engaged in the plate without applying excessive force.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,711, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, relates to a leg system for upholstered furniture, where the legs are directly applied to a corner bracket secured to a chair or other item of furniture. While the legs do not screw on, screws or other similar fasteners must be used to secure the leg to the bracket.